You're Gonna Be Okay
by The Dragon Conquerer
Summary: Rapunzel is sick and she's not going to get better. Series of One-Shots. Jackunzel.
1. Chapter 1

_August_

* * *

_"Terminally ill."_

Rapunzel tried to block out the words. She could still hear everything they were saying.

_"Treatment is possible."_

_"Will it work?"_

_"It's very unlikely."_

Her throat grew tight and hot tears began to prick at her eyes.

_"Well what do we do?"_

_"We hope."_

Hope. Hmph. She was far beyond hope, far beyond treatment, he had just said it himself. The only reason the doctor was giving this false hope was for Jack's sake and she knew that all too well. And she was grateful.

It had been just a few months ago when she found out, and at that point they were telling her it was completely treatable and the survival rate was fairly high. And now they were saying that she was going to die? Just like that, in the span of two months? How could everything change so quickly? It was like she didn't even get a chance to blink before it all came crashing down.

The door opened. She already knew it was Jack.

"Hey, Rapunzel? You awake?"

She rolled over and met his eyes. They were blue, like always. But they were watery now and she knew why. "Yeah. Is everything..."

Jack walked over and sat on the edge of her bed. He pulled her into a hug, softly stroking her hair as he spoke. "Of course. You're gonna be okay."

Rapunzel smiled.

He was a terrible liar.


	2. Chapter 2

_September_

* * *

She still remembered when they met.

It was a few years ago, four to be exact, in late June. She had just graduated high school and spent nearly every morning at the coffee shop on the corner. He had started working there just a few days before she starting coming. If it hadn't been for the cute barista she probably would have stopped coming. Not that it was bad, of course (Jack would always give her extra whipped cream), but she didn't have the time to go all the way across town.

Sometimes she would catch him staring at her, and she would blush on look away. It only took a week and a half for her to get confident enough to wink at him.

After three weeks, when she got her coffee, his number was on the cup.

She didn't call the first time she got it. Just gave him a grin and walked to her usual table in the corner. It wasn't until her friend set her up on a blind date that they saw each other again. The date was terribly awkward, but it was lovely. He was lovely.

Jack didn't work at the coffee shop anymore, it had just been a part time job anyway. And she didn't visit as often, bordering on barely ever. But the memory was still there. It smelled faintly of chocolate, and it was warm and cozy, albeit small. They had the best scones. And she never could resist getting one of those little-

"Punz? You coming?"

She looked up from the floor. Jack was standing in the doorway, holding her bags.

"Yeah I just...yeah." She hopped off the bed and stood next to him.

Rapunzel hooked her arm around his and they exited into the hall. She was going home, there was no reason to keep her there. But she'd be back, she knew that. It wasn't the last time she'd be seeing that hospital.

"You okay?"

"Not really." Jack unlinked their arms to wrap his right arm around her waist. "How come nobody wants to talk about it? I'm not a little kid, I can handle the truth. They don't need to speak in hushed tones all the time."

"They just don't want to worry you." He said.

Rapunzel leaned into his shoulder as they walked. "I'm already worried."

"Don't be. The doctor said it's treatable."

She scoffed. "He also said 'very unlikely'."

"Let's not talk about it right now, okay? How about we just to get something to eat? Your pick."

She chose the coffee shop.

* * *

**jack in a barista uniform omg imagine it guys**


	3. Chapter 3

She rested her head in his lap and he softly stroked her blonde locks. There was peaceful silenced as they both smiled like idiots and stared up at the beautiful inky sky spotted with stars. Rapunzel had spent a good twenty minutes naming every single constellation she knew, and to her surprise, Jack knew them too. He didn't seem like the type to be interested in astronomy but he found it rather fascinating. Or maybe it was just her that he found fascinating.

She let out a happy sigh and closed her eyes. Jack's hands were cold as always as they softly caressed her cheek, his left one holding her's and rubbing small circles on her knuckles. He leaned down to press a kiss to her nose and she giggled in surprise.

He whispered something under his breath, so quiet that she barely heard it.

"What was that?"

Jack planted another kiss, this time to her forehead. "I love you."

* * *

Rapunzel was a nervous wreck. Her boyfriend gave her hand a tight but comforting squeeze and she shifted her body to lean against him. She wanted to touch him all the time, just feel him and how cool he was against how warm she was.

"We have good news. The treatment seems to be working fairly well. There's a chance-"

She was no longer paying attention. Rapunzel was always optimistic, but lately she found it rather hard to be. Her doctor had already said it was terminal, all this was doing was prolonging the inevitable. She tried to think positive, she really did.

But it really was just hard.

"...there are other things we can try if this medicine doesn't work, but so far things seem to be good."

She looked up at Jack, who now had his arm wrapped around her and was rubbing her shoulder. He was smiling. And she found herself smiling too.

"Great. So, are we good to go?" He asked.

"Of course. Give the pharmacist this prescription up at the front desk and then you can be on your way."

Jack took the slip of paper and held her hand as they walked down the hallway.

"It's good, you know. What he said."

"I know."

"It's really good. There's a pretty high chance you'll..." Jack trailed off. He didn't want to promise her anything.

Rapunzel gave his hand a firm squeeze. Even if she herself wasn't feeling very optimistic, she would pretend to be. For Jack's sake.

* * *

"I want to kiss you on the Eiffel Tower."

Rapunzel laughed. She raised one eyebrow at Jack, her lips spreading into a grin.

"What?" He asked her, and she just laughed again. "It's a perfectly reasonable dream."

"Mm, yes. Of course it is. And while we're at it, we can go get married on the Leaning Tower of Piza."

Jack was looking at her funny.

It took her moment to realize that she had said marriage. She bit her lip and looked away. That wasn't something they talked about, Jack never was one for thinking about the future.

He was staring at her rather intensely now and Rapunzel felt herself blush. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

Jack smiled and leaned back in his chair, bringing his mug of coffee up to his lips. When he set it down she saw that he had this mischievous grin on his face, one she'd seen to many times to count. The one that she both lover and was annoyed by so much. "That can be arranged." He said simply.

And Rapunzel was blushing again.

* * *

**damn son**

**jack is smooth af**


	4. Chapter 4

_November_

* * *

Rapunzel twirled the hellebore rose in her hands, her fingers slowly gliding over the petals as though she'd soak up the memories just by touching it. Jack was at her side, asleep. He twitched and his hand nearly smacked her in the face. She snorted and scooted over slightly.

"You should be sleeping..." A drowsy voice whispered.

"So should you..." This was the first time he'd slept in days, and she'd had to force him to. He was incredibly reluctant, and Rapunzel found it endearing and slightly annoying.

A knock was heard and the door creaked open. In stepped Tooth, the assistant nurse and also one of her and Jack's best friends. She was currently in dentist school, but had been working part time at the hospital for a few months now. They had worked together since Spring in the children's ward, and she said she switched wards so she could see Rapunzel more often. And it also may have had something to do with Jack, but Rapunzel never mentioned it for fear of embarassing her.

"How's it going?" She asked as she set the vase of flowers on the side table.

Rapunzel smiled at her gratefully. "Great. He's finally sleeping."

"_Finally_. I'm surprised he didn't pass out sooner. Gotta check the vitals, but I'll try my best not to wake him." She took out the thermometer first, and began to ramble as she waited. "So, I spoke to Doctor North today, and he said you're doing great, and should be released tomorrow. He's also sorry about keeping you an extra three days, but we all just got worried."

Rapunzel smiled and nodded along (getting a scolding from Tooth, who had previously asked her not to move).

Tooth took out the thermometer and wheeled over the blood pressure cart.

"Is it true? What he said?" Rapunzel leaned in so Jack wouldn't hear. "...terminal?"

"What do you mean?"

"My first doctor told Jack it was terminal. That means that treatment won't work, right?"

Tooth bit her lip and wrapped the cuff around Rapunzel's arm. "We're doing the best we can."

They both stayed silent as she worked. When she finished up and began to pack her equipment, Rapunzel grabbed her forearm. "Can you stay? Please?"

She set her bag back down. "Okaaaay." Tooth scooted the chair over to her bed.

"I'm worried."

Tooth smiled warmly and placed her hand on her shoulder. "Don't be."

"Not about me. Him." She pointed to the sleeping form beside her, who had his arms wrapped around her waist and was snoring lightly.

"Jack's a strong boy. He can handle himself."

"Pfft. He's a big kid and you know it."

"Well I did say _boy_..." The two girls broke out into fits of giggles and Jack stirred, looking annoyed even his sleep.

He opened his eyes and raised an eyebrow at Tooth before closing them again. She leaned over and poked his side. "Hey, when are you coming back? BT has been nagging me for three weeks now."

Jack shrugged. "They're doing just fine without me..." He mumbled.

"Oh come on. They adore you. BT says the subsitute is fine, but they all miss you. Think about it, okay?" She knew it would be to no avail, he wouldn't leave Rapunzel's side, but he needed to get out of the hospital for at least a little bit. A few hours a day with the kids would do him some good.

There was a knock and the door opened to reveal Dr. North. "Everything good, Miss Fay?"

Tooth nodded and stood up, her gold bracelets jingling as she did. "I checked her vitals and everything seems alright. When will she be released?"

"Tomorrow. Maybe today, depend on how she is feeling." He replied, turning to Rapunzel for an answer.

"Today would be great." She said.

"Excellent. Miss Fay, take care of release."

Tooth nodded diligently and left the room.

Rapunzel lightly shook her boyfriend's shoulders, and he blinked twice before opening his eyes. "I'm getting released."

"Just five more minutes..."

She snorted and pushed him off.

* * *

Rapunzel crossed her legs and leaned back, wondering how on Earth she ended up like this. Two weeks. He hadn't spoken to her in two weeks. Before he wouldn't even leave her for an hour, and now because of one fight he was going to ignore her for two damn weeks?

She blew a strand of hair out of her face and contemplated dialing his number again. There didn't even seem to be any use. He'd still ignore her. She bit her lip and sent a quick text anyway.

Tooth was sitting at the front desk when Rapunzel arrived, having a heated argument with another nurse.

"You gave her what? I specifially said no- oh. Hey, Punz!" She shot the nurse a cold glare and snapped at her to go fix it.

"That was a bit...harsh..." She noted as the girl walked away.

Tooth shrugged sheepishly. "It's been a long day. Now, let's get your blood pressure checked. You were particularly high last week." She lead her to an empty room and Rapunzel took a seat in the chair by the window. "So...how did you get Jack to come back to school? I noticed he wasn't at your last check up."

Rapunzel awkwardly picked at a loose thread in her sweater dress. Tooth eyed her curiously as she wrapped the cuff around her arm. "We're kind of...broken up right now."

"What?"

"He...he asked me to marry him. And I said no."

Tooth nearly dropped the stethescope. "You said no? And why on Earth would you say no?"

"Because I'm already being selfish enough even making him stay with me. I don't want to make him hurt more."

The brunette placed a comforting hand on Rapunzel's shoulder. "You are not selfish. You're the furthest thing from selfish that ever existed."

"I don't know sometimes."

"I do." She checked the monitor and frowned.

Rapunzel immediately panicked. "What?"

"It's just..." Tooth trailed off and pulled out her pager. "North, can you please come to Room 212?"

"I did not eat cookies, if that's what this is about." Came the voice of her doctor on the other end. Rapunzel probably would have laughed if she wasn't scared to death.

"It's not about cookies. I'm with a patient."

"Ah then. Right away."

Tooth smiled nervously at Rapunzel and stared at the door. "Can you please tell me what's going on?"

"Just a minute, okay? I wanna make sure I'm right before I scare you."

_Too late for that._

Dr. North entered and Tooth beckoned him over to look at the monitor. He rubbed his beard, deep in thought, and whispered something to the short brunette. She nodded.

"But she was fine just last week!"

"Things change, Toothiana. We will run some tests. Follow me." Tooth helped Rapunzel up and gave her hand a light squeeze.

A million things were running through her mind as she followed North through the hallway. And all she could do was wish Jack was here. She bit the inside of her cheek and tried to stop thinking about him.

* * *

There was tension in the air, so thick that you could cut it with a knife. She bit her lip so hard it nearly bled.

They were talking, rather heatedly. Curiosity was buring inside of her and she tried her best to read their lips. But they were talking far too fast. Jack turned his body away and ran a hand through his hair. Rapunzel knew what that meant, he only ever did it when he was nervous, stressed out, or upset.

The door opened and North stepped in, clipboard in his hands.

"Can you please tell me what's happening?"

"Is worse than we thought. Will prescribe different medicine, treatment options is being discussed."

"But what..."

North pulled up a chair and say in front of her with his legs crossed. "You see, arteries get narrow, then there is no blood flow. We had thought that there were few, but is more than we saw before. We do all we can to fix this."

Rapunzel nodded and swallowed hard. North patted her shoulder and left just as Jack entered the room. She couldn't decide whether or not to be happy or annoyed. He shuffled over to her, hands in his pockets.

"I'm sorry."

"Forget about it, okay? All that matters right now is you."

She wouldn't forget about it. How could she? But she gave him a grateful smile anyway.

She used to love being here. Helping out, particularly in the children's ward with Tooth. They said she had a magic touch, that she could make any child smile. She would spend long hours there, loving every single moment, even if it did make her sad a lot. Now she wanted nothing more than to leave and never come back.

* * *

***casually sips hot chocolate***

**pfft no i dont ship toothunzel what are you talking about**

**on a side note, i am a horrible human being**

**pls dont read this i will die of embarassment**


End file.
